The 2012 Motors and Muscles was a very good show with an extremely competitive lineup and was one of the strongest strongman contests in Thunder Bay's history during an era in the city's history that has been more competitive than any other. Below is a complete contest report with notes on each competitor as well as photos and videos from the contest:

Eric did very well at this contest and won by a very safe margin. I knew that Eric would do well going into this show but did not expect him to win. I expected Dom Leonitus to win the contest after Dom placed 2nd at the Winkler Harvest Festival Strongman. I knew that Eric would be very near to the top and possibly even place 2nd, but I had no expectation of him winning the entire show. What's more is that he was 1st placed in the final 4 of 5 events after placing 9th in the first event. Speaking in terms of his specific lifts, the press medley was the first event where Eric placed the aforementioned 9th and it was due to a tactical error on Eric's part. Eric attempted the 250-lb axle press and the 230-lb log too many times. After the first try with a particular implement I think the appropriate strategy is to either move on to the next implement or give the failed implement at most one further attempt. If after two attempts you cannot lift the implement, it is most likely because you do not have the strength at the moment to do so. Had Eric not attempted but failed two of the implements in this medley, he would have had more strength for the Viking Press which I am confident he would have been able to perform more than one repetition. Five reps with the Viking Press would have brought his placing at this contest from 9th to 7th although he would have won either way so in this case, a tactical error served as no disadvantage to Eric in the final placings.

325-lb Atlas Stone:

Eric's stone was impressive not exclusively due to the weight [325-lb] and number of reps [five] but due to the height of the apparatus. At 56", the apparatus was no joke and is a height which causes some competitors considerable difficulty. Eric's height of 6'4 was an advantage here although being able to lift the 325-lb stone is impressive regardless of any other factor. Five reps put him in the lead quite comfortably, with Rob Gordon in 2nd with three reps.

Axle Deadlift

Eric's performance in the axle deadlift was impressive, resulting in three repetitions with 565-lb. It should be noted that Eric stopped at five reps because he was the last competitor and had no reason to perform more repetitions as he had already won the event. This was particularly impressive because 9 of 11 competitors could not get any reps with only Dom Leonitus getting two reps before Eric.

Distance Medley:

Eric placed 1st in this event as well and narrowly Dom Leonitus by only 1.18s. I believe that Eric's foolhardiness - even carelessness - helps him considerably in movement events. Other competitors would be very concerned with the risk of injury but Eric seems to have less regard for that and this has consistently helped him perform better than top flight strongmen in distance events. Although I am concerned that Eric may be injured in such an event, one cannot argue his results which are currently up there with some of the best in the country.

800-lb Tire Flip:

Eric was the only competitor who completed the full six flips of the 800-lb tire in the 90 seconds which was allotted. Most competitors struggled with the tire which was due in part due to the tires being wet, something which plays a psychological role in flipping the tire. While only the feet of the competitors being wet matters in the tire flip, it is still a source of psychological aggravation to worry about whether or not the wetness of a tire is affecting their grip. Mental stress can easily manifest into very real problems in various events and that was the case with the tire here. It was also a new tire for all of the competitors and each tire is different and requires a degree of getting used to which makes Eric's win here very impressive.

I first heard about Dom Leonitus in Winkler, Manitoba where he placed 2nd to Joel Dircks at the Winker Harvest Festival Strongman competition. Due to his great performance I expected him to win this contest but Eric edged him out. He still did very well by placing 2nd against some very strong men.

Press Medley

Dom was the only one to lift all three implements before moving to the Viking Press in the medley. Since the Viking Press is only used as a tie-breaker, Dom did not technically have to perform any of his eight reps on the Viking Press to win this event but he had no crystal ball to predict that and performed the reps anyway, making this victory impressive. The only competitor to achieve more reps on the Viking Press was Yanick, but Yanick did not lift all three implements. All in all, this was a great start for Dom and confirmed to me at that point in the contest, Dom's eventual victory which later did not materialize.

325-lb Atlas Stone

Dom lifted the 325-lb Atlas Stone to the 56" platform for one rep giving him the 4th place position in this event. Dom is a great strongman although I am not certain how much experience he has with the stones. Dom just seems to be a genetic freak of strength who will do well in any strongman event regardless of experience and to my knowledge, he has only been competing for a short while. As it stands, Eric is clearly ahead of Dom in this particular event, but that may change soon depending on the level of experience Dom currently has with stone loading. Dom's repetition was still impressive as it was the heaviest stone in the contest and gave him a solid 4th place finish here. Dom's 4th place finish did not erode my confidence in a win for him at this contest, but the event made me strongly consider the possibility of Eric placing either 2nd or 3rd.

565-lb Axle Deadlift

This was a great lift for Dom as 9 out of 11 competitors received a 0 on this event. For Dom to get two reps was very exciting for the crowd and a great show of prowess for Dom in terms of his power as a deadlifter and as a person with very good grip.

Distance Medley

Dom was once again very close to Eric in this event, coming 2nd by only 1.18s. Dom is the Usain Bolt of strongman and it showed here. It is very clear that distance/movement events are a strong point for Dom and I can only imagine that he will improve as he gains more experience.

800-lb Tire Flip:

Dom had the misfortune of being affected by the wetness of the tire and once again, this is a problem that at the very least can affect a competitor mentally, if not directly due to reduced grip. I do believe that Dom has the brute strength to flip an 800-lb tire more than once as I can flip a 700-lb+ tire at least twice and Dom is much stronger than me. Ultimately this will depend on the tire and tiredness [no pun intended] of the competitors as well as other factors, but overall, I think it is safe to say that Dom is at or above the level of this tire but that did not happen on this particular day. With Dom being weak at this event and Eric being strong, it solidified Eric's position as winner at this contest, but Dom was still in 2nd at the end of the contest.

Rob competed in Ontario's Strongest Man this summer with Eric and I felt that Rob would be in the mix in the top three because Rob is quite good at most or all of the events in this contest. I did not expect anyone to beat Dom but I did think a top two finish for Rob would be a possibility. As it stood, only one point separated Dom and Rob which really goes to show how close it was.

Press Medley

I didn't spot any technical errors in Rob's pressing and after lifting two of the implements, a top four placing was certain for Rob, as only four performed two or more implements. The Viking Press reps took place after the successful completion of two implements where competitors gradually tire, and Rob got two reps, although it would have taken four reps for Rob to beat Ben Thompson [below] in this event which I think was not likely because the Viking Press is an implement which I find people suddenly halt in. Meaning, when a competitor cannot get a rep, it is unlikely that waiting a short period of time will change that. Failure does not necessarily come immediately on the Viking Press but when it does hint at an arrival, it seems to be a sure thing.

325-lb Atlas Stone

Rob did very well with the larger of the two available stones at this contest, completing three reps. Height does help with this particular movement given that the bar was 56" and Rob is 6'2 and 1/2. This was an impressive lift because stones under 400 pounds are routinely used in pro shows and in fact, for many years stones under 400 pounds were used in the World's Strongest Man competition. A 325-lb stone is no joke, especially to 56" and especially for multiple reps.

565-lb Axle Deadlift

Rob got four reps on the Axle Deadlift which secured him a tie for 3rd place and it was a good thing he squeezed out that fourth rep because it was a three-way tie. It was a massive effort and a necessary one for Rob to get the points he did in this event.

Distance Medley

Rob did quite well in this event and it was very close between places 3-6. It was a good thing that Rob went as fast as he did because 0.2 seconds would have cost him a placing and a point and just over a second would have cost him two placings and two points as can be observed from the following placing spread below:

Incidentally had Rob been only one second faster on this event he would have been 3rd and received one more point and tied Dom Leonitus for 2nd place.

800-lb Tire FLip

Rob did very well in the Tire Flip, who flipped the tire four times in 60 seconds but managed to get another full flip in as well, just just shy of the 90 second time allotment. It's too bad the last flip was just after the time had expired but that is how it goes in strongman at times. This was an impressive event for Rob because he placed 4th in an event which was one of the most challenging for the very strong lineup of competitors. Rob also beat Dom Leonitus who had just placed 2nd behind Joel Dircks at the Winkler Harvest Festival Strongman earlier in the month, and Joel is a top flight strongman. Although it should be noted that all strongman events are different and just because one competitor beats another competitor in one event does not mean that he will beat him overall but it is still a good basis of comparison and the more often a competitor beats other top competitors, the more evidence there is that he is at a very high level of competition, as is true of this competition in general.

Contest MC described Yanick as "a powerful little package", although Yanick is still huge for everyday standards at 5'8 and 215-lb although he was smaller than some of his competitors. In fact, 7 of 11 competitors were heavier than Yanick and so for Yanick to beat four competitors who outweighed by 15-145 pounds is quite impressive.

Press Medley

Of the three press implements, Yanick was one of only four competitors to get 2 of the 3 and went on to perform an impressive nine reps with the 280-lb Viking Press, putting him in 2nd place in this event which was a great start to this contest.

245-lb Atlas Stone

Despite doing the lighter stone, Yanick had one of the most impressive stone lift in the contest and in my view it was comparable to some of the competitors who did the lift with the heavier stone. Yanick did the stone for nine reps and did it with what would be - in strongman terms - lightning speed. While Yanick may not have been able to get the 325-lb stone for many or any reps, I am not so sure the 325-lb stone competitors would have beaten nine reps very easily had they tried the lighter stone, as cardio can be a factor here and Yanick's cardio on this movement impressed. Yanick placed 5th behind Dom Leonitus who only got one repetition with the 325-lb stone but those are the rules where any rep with the larger stone beats the smaller stone. So hypothetically, one rep with the 325-lb stone would beat one billion reps with the 245-lb stone.

Yes, a billion.

With that said, Yanick's nine reps still impressed, especially because I am new to stones personally although I think I should be able to load the 300-lb stone to 46" soon enough if I get some practice.

Yanick performed this event with ease in my opinion and it seemed to me that he could have easily done more than four reps which is why I was shocked when he stopped after only four reps. I thought that Yanick felt he was guaranteed to be in 3rd place after that many reps, which was true, but it ended up being a three-way tie for 3rd place. Had Yanick completed five reps, he would have been in 3rd place with Rob and Jared tieing for 4th. I felt that Yanick stopping when he did was a bit of a strategical error although I am unsure exactly why he stopped. Yanick did not look tired in my view, or at least not too tired to do another rep, although I could be mistaken about that.

Distance Medley

Yanick admits to lacking movement events and that self-criticism resonated in his performance here. Yanick did completed the full medley in 68.06 seconds which I felt was impressive, but only placed 8th as a result. I'm unsure as to whether or not I can personally complete this medley in the allotted time frame, but I tried walking with the same weight for the Farmer's implement and can move, albeit not very fast. I do think that with a few training sessions I could complete the full medley within the time frame and that is why I find Yanick's performance here somewhat surprising as he is far stronger than I am. I would think he would utterly devastate me in this event but that may not be the case and I think Yanick may have some apprehension due to the injury potential of moving with heavy objects. Eric Brady who won the contest has seemingly a complete lack of regard for injury and as a result he performs phenomenally well on events like this one. In any case, if Yanick can convert his static strength to events involving movement I am quite confident he will be able to do very well. Lifting up the Farmer implements is not a problem in the least for Yanick, but moving them is. And Yanick is a very, very fast strongman which makes this even more bewildering to me, but something I am rather confident Yanick will be able to improve on once he determines what is slowing him down.

800-lb Tire Flip:

I can be nothing but impressed with Yanick's performance with this 800-lb tire because so many great competitors at this contest struggled with it where Yanick managed to get five reps and place 2nd only behind the eventual winner of the contest, Eric Brady. This event was great and like the stone load, put Yanick's strength and speed on display. Yanick packs a wallop and that was seen in this event.

Jared has been consistently improving in strongman contests and this was yet another big improvement for Jared after competing in three contests in the past month. He placed 5th in a very competitive lineup which is increasing my confidence in Jared's ability to compete in Ontario's Strongest Man next year. I felt that he was very near to that level and this contest confirmed that in my mind.

Press Medley

This was a big effort by Jared and a respectable 6th place finish in a tough medley with one implement completed and seven reps with the Viking Press.

325-lb Atlas Stone

I was particularly impressed with Jared's results here with the biggest stone in the contest and a 3rd place finish. Not only was the stone huge but the bar was quite high. This was approaching the Ontario's Strongest Man stone medley which went up to 400-lb for the same height.

500-lb Axle Deadlift

Jared put forth another big effort on the Axle Deadlift and managed a respectable four reps which got him a tie for 3rd place in a very difficult event. Jared's deadlift from the floor with a standard bar is 570 and he has consistently improved his deadlift and will most likely continue in this direction for a while yet.

Distance Medley

Jared placed 3rd in this event with a time of 43.59 seconds which is particularly impressive especially when viewing how close it was, as mentioned above3rd - Jared - 43.59 sec

As you can see, a mere four seconds would have been the difference between a 3rd place finish and a 6th place finish in this event.

800-lb Tire Flip:

Unfortunately Jared was unable to flip the 800-lb tire at this contest as the wetness of the tire caused difficulties for many of the competitors. Jared is quite capable of flipping an 800-lb tire but each tire is different and doing the event at the end of a contest is also quite exhausting.

Joe Baxter is from Dryden, Ontario, and was the 3rd lightest competitor at the contest so beating three competitors who outweighed him by 70-160 pounds was quite impressive.

Press Medley

The Press Medley was a poor start for Joe who turned it around later in the contest. He completed the rep with the circus dumbbell but his attempts at further implements reduced his energy and made him unable to perform the 280-lb Viking Press for any reps. I think that Joe would normally be able to perform the Viking Press but unfortunately doing it after an exhausting effort rendered him unable to do so at Motors and Muscles 2012.

245-lb Atlas Stone
Joe did very well with the 245-lb Atlas Stone, managing six reps to the 56" bar in the time permitted. This secured him a 6th place finish in this event and rose his overall placing at the contest.

500-lb Axle Deadlift

A big effort by Joe to get in two quality reps with the 500-lb Axle Deadlift and a tie for the 4th place spot in this event. This was a tough event and Joe did a great job with it.

Distance Medley

Joe completed the medley in 47.57 seconds which put him in 6th place. As outlined above, a mere four second improvement in his time would have put him in 3rd place which just goes to show how close the scores were.

800-lb Tire Flip:

Joe did very well in this event and got four flips in a fast 45 seconds. He actually got a fifth flip but did so outside of the time permitted for the event. This was a very good result from Joe who was flipping a 4X body weight tire and impressed the crowd.

Ben placed 3rd in Thunder Bay's Strongest Man over 200-lb [heavyweight] class last month and beat two competitors who competed in Ontario's Strongest Man this year. Ben performed less well than he would have hoped to here at Motors and Muscles but still had some impressive lifts.

Press Medley

Ben placed 3rd in the press medley by completing two implements followed by three reps on the Viking Press. Ben is very impressive and unfortunately did not balance himself properly before his Axle Press. I feel that this burnt his energy and prevented him from getting the 230-lb log, which is a log he can normally get easily.

325-lb Atlas Stone

Unfortunately, Ben could not load this stone. Ben has loaded heavier stones than this before but was unable to replicate that performance today. This was disappointing for Ben because he would have quite easily been able to handle the 245-lb stone for many reps had he tried it but his strategy was to try the larger stone because any reps with the larger stone beats any reps with the smaller stone. However, a 0 is still a 0 which is what happened to Ben here, much to his chagrin.

500-lb Axle Deadlift

Ben is very good at rack pulls but the Axle Deadlift is a larger handle and favours big hands. Ben was able to get one repetition which is good, but could have done much better with minor tweaking of the event, for example, if the Axle had been higher than it was. As it stood, this event was quite low for an Axle.

Distance Medley

Ben finished the medley in 56.31 seconds. He is quite strong but this event is also a combination of speed and grip, in addition to sheer strength. Ben placed 7th which was his overall result at this contest.

800-lb Tire Flip:

Ben managed three flips in 86 seconds which was quite impressive. In a competitive lineup with a very difficult lineup, that only managed Ben 7th place in this event, but it was a respectable effort nevertheless.

This was a very impressive contest for James for his first strongman competition ever.

Press Medley

James placed 7th in the press medley by pressing one implement followed by four reps with the Viking Press.

245-lb Atlas Stone

James got the 245-lb stone for one rep and finished with a 9th place tie. I'm not sure whether or not James tried the stone before today, as it is somewhat of a difficult event and at the very least, pretty awkward.

500-lb Axle Deadlift

James tied for 4th place in this event with two reps with the 500-lb Axle. I felt that this was a very impressive result for James as he beat Ben Thompson who is very good at the deadlift, although there are subtle differences between different deadlift events and this is one that James is clearly very good at.

Distance Medley

This was a massive effort from James and he finished the 250-lb per hand Farmer's Walk but his time ran out just as he began the Keg Carry. He finished in 10th place with a total distance of 52' 7".

800-lb Tire Flip:

I was impressed with James' tire, especially for his first contest. To get three flips in 48 seconds. This was the event that I was most impressed with of James as he beat some very serious competitors here which is a great result for his first contest.

I was very pleased to see Eric compete at this contest as he has the strength necessary for strongman and the only way to continue to improve is to continue to compete.

Press Medley

Eric completed one implement with seven reps on the Viking Press which was good enough for 5th place and a great start for Eric for this contest. I think that Eric had the strength necessary to complete the 135-lb circus dumbbell after his successful 250-lb Axle Press but perhaps lack of experience with that particular implement prevented him from going to it.

245-lb Atlas Stone

Eric got three reps with the 245-lb stone which was a good effort and enough to get him in 7th place in this event. With that said, I think that Eric has the brute strength and the height necessary for a larger stone although perhaps the 325-lb stone was just a touch heavy and a risk to attempt in case of getting a 0, which is why I think Eric chose the 245-lb stone. Since the stone load is an event that favours taller men, I am quite confident that Eric will continue to improve and move on to heavier stones very soon.

500-lb Axle Deadlift

Unfortunately Eric was unable to complete any repetitions with the 500-lb Axle Deadlift but I think he is very close to doing so. This particular event was just the slightest touch out of Eric's league and unfortunately did not help him in his final placing.

Distance Medley

Eric finished the medley in 46.65 seconds for a very impressive 5th place in this event. This helped bring Eric's overall placing back up and was a great demonstration of Eric's quality as a strongman as the medley combines strength with speed and grip as well as versatility with a number of instruments and Eric proved capable on all of the above.

800-lb Tire Flip:

Unfortunatley, Eric was unable to complete any lifts with the very difficult 800-lb tire and it is worth noting that the tire was wet which may not directly affect performance but is definitely a psychological concern for competitors. Eric was not the only one to get no reps with the tire as it was very hard and I am sure with more tire flip experience he will do quite well.

Dan Skaarup at 190-lb was the second lightest competitor in this contest which I think played a big role in his placing 10th. He stated that he needs to get stronger for next time but that will come with body weight. Body weight is a big reason why I did not compete in this contest as Dan was the second lightest competitor and outweighs me by at least 20-lb. I would have been the lightest competitor with the lowest BMI by far and these things do matter in strongman. If Dan adds body weight, his strength will naturally rise.

Press Medley

Dan did well in the Press Medley having completed the Circus Dumbbell before moving on to the Viking Press where he got three reps on the Viking Press. The Medley is a bit of a judgment call as Dan could have skipped the 230-lb log attempt and ended up with more reps on the Viking Press. In any case, this was a good effort from Dan and a good result.

245-lb Atlas Stone

Dan is new to stones so to get a rep with the 245-lb stone over a 56" bar is an amazing effort from Dan and I am quite confident he will be able to get more reps the next time he tries it as he really would have had three reps if not for barely missing two of them. I also think he has the capacity to load a 295-lb stone to a lower bar, perhaps 46". Overall, this was a good lift for Dan.

500-lb Axle Deadlift

Dan was unable to get the 500-lb Axle Deadlift which is understandable given how low the Axle is to the ground and given how it favours competitors with bigger hands. It's a test of strength but also a test of who has big enough hands to grip the bar. Either way, it was pretty close for Dan and I think he could have completed the lift from either a higher height or if the bar was a little narrower.

Distance Medley

Dan did great in this event I thought, completing it in 85.09 seconds. It just so happened that much of the competition did better, relegating Dan to 9th place despite a great effort. This was a very good event and I was happy it was in the contest and also happy that Dan finished it within the permitted time frame.

800-lb Tire Flip:

This was Dan's best event as far as placing is concerned, placing 6th in the event against excellent competition. Dan got three flips in 63 seconds with a very hard to flip tire. Dan is clearly quite good at the tire and this has been the case for quite some time so I was not particularly surprised with Dan's success at this event, but nevertheless impressed.

Jeffrey Nason was both the youngest and the lightest competitor and had some impressive events at this contest.

Press Medley

I think Jeffrey was pretty close to pressing the 135-lb circus dumbbell and I believe he will get that pretty soon. He moved on to the Viking Press where he got four reps with 280-lb.

245-lb Atlas Stone

This is what I would consider to be Jeffrey's best event. He got two reps with the 245-lb stone which I think is crazy because this was Jeffrey's first time ever loading stones and he did it without the glue [tacky] that the other competitors used. He also loaded the stone over a 56" bar which is quite high. Not only that, he did it for two reps. All of these things considered, I think he did extremely well in this contest and at 18 years old and just out of high school, I am quite confident that we will see more from Jeffrey in strongman as the years pass.

500-lb Axle Deadlift

Jeffrey was unable to get the 500-lb Axle Deadlift, but it was a big lift and not easy for anyone. Jeffrey has a 500-lb deadlift from the floor with a standard bar and perhaps it was the grip which made this event difficult for him, which is the case for many competitors.

Distance Medley
I think the Distance Medley was an event where Jeffrey could have done much better, perhaps had it not been for things like the heat and dehydration. He was able to move with the Farmer's handles, but not enough to complete the course.

800-lb Tire Flip:

Although Jeffrey did not get any flips of the 800-lb tire, I was very impressed that Jeffrey was able to budge it at all, as it is a very serious tire. I think that he is within reach of flipping this tire and will be there by the time of his next contest.

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